Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Don't show me this message again

Gloria e Imeneo, RV687

Introduction

In 1723, after a fourteen-year break in diplomatic relations, the French monarchy posted to Venice a new ambassador, Jacques-Vincent Languet, Count of Gergy. Languet managed to reoccupy the traditional Palais de France, situated on the Fondamenta della Madonna dell’Orto and facing out across the lagoon to the mainland. (Today, this building is the Grand Hotel ‘Palazzo dei Dogi’.) As a matter of course, he celebrated there every year the feast of St Louis on 25 August, thereby honouring not only the patron saint of his country but also its monarch.

Vivaldi may have made contact with Languet earlier, but the first commission of which we have certain knowledge is that for the wedding serenata, RV687, written to commemorate the nuptials of Louis XV and the Polish princess Maria Leszczyska and performed in the evening of 12 September 1725 in a loggia (still standing) at the end of the ambassador’s garden. At very short notice, Languet organised a magnificent festa, which was minutely reported not only in a handwritten account in Italian for circulation among the ambassador’s friends (the British Library in London possesses a copy of this relazione interleaved in the correspondence of the Roman cardinal Filippo Antonio Gualtieri) but also in the Mercure de France for October 1725, where we read: ‘After the ball there was a serenata, whose words, suited to the subject [of the festivities], were much praised, and the music was by Signor Vivaldi, who is the best composer in Venice’.

Vivaldi’s very hastily written autograph score of the serenata today lacks the fascicle containing the introductory sinfonia and, with it, the title of the serenata. As in operas, sinfonias were very necessary accessories for serenatas, since in addition to providing some very welcome purely instrumental music, they acted as ‘noise-killers’, alerting the audience to the start of the performance. For the present recording, a rarely heard sinfonia in C major, RV116, in the usual three movements has been selected. The choice lay, effectively, between C major and B flat major, since minor-key sinfonias are very rare, and Vivaldi always avoids making the first chord of the opening recitative (here, F major) the same as the tonic chord of the preceding sinfonia.

The two characters in this serenata are Imeneo (Hymen, the god of marriage) and La Gloria (Glory, the attribute of the French monarch). There is really no ‘plot’: the two characters simply vie with one another in heaping enconiums on the young couple. La Gloria leads off by descending to earth and inviting Louis to welcome his Polish bride in a pompous aria (‘Alle amene franche arene’) thematically related to one in Vivaldi’s recent opera Giustino (1724) and to the first movement of his concerto for two horns RV538. Imeneo then invites the princess to share the marriage bed and reminds her of the duties of a good wife in a strangely restless aria in C minor (‘Tenero fanciulletto’). The wedding congratulations continue in strict rotation until the two cheerleaders join forces in a lively duet, ‘Vedrò sempre la pace’. Two further arias (prepared, as always, by recitatives) arrive, and we at last reach the climax of the serenata: the final recitative. By tradition, this is the point at which the joyful occasion is summed up – the anonymous poet even manages to squeeze in a tribute to Languet himself for hosting the festa – and its ‘message’ is delivered in definitive form. This celebration, sings La Gloria, will remain indelibly etched in human memory. It remains only for the couple to sing a final duet, ‘In braccio de’ contenti’, which is another borrowing from Giustino.

Recordings

'King directs strong performances of both works, with all the familiar virtues of his sacred music series in evidence, from its bright energy to its s ...'This is Vivaldi at his very best, and these crisp, enthusiastic performances recapture the splendour of the original celebrations' (The Daily Telegraph)» More

From my lofty palace,
where all around me the supreme embodiment
of virtue and greatness shines forth,
I descend, and on this day,
when Hymen’s torch will sparkle,
to the ever-august genius
of the great king whom the Seine incessantly honours
Glory, too, offers plaudits and good wishes.

You, rarest and greatest beauty
of the Polish skies,
come, give consent and let me see you
with great Louis bound in a chaste marriage-knot;
I will escort you to the royal bridal chamber,
where he eagerly awaits you:
his love, too, already surrenders to your love.

And you, Graces and Cupids,
weave flowery,
perfumed garlands,
and help me to bestrew
The bridal bed [with those flowers]

How more praiseworthy
will this royal wedding be,
if Glory attends as a paranymph!

O happy pair,
chosen in advance by Fate
to make me more renowned and you [both] happy,
all kinds of good influence
that any propitious star may give you
will be bestowed on you by me,
and let an astonished world behold this in you.

At a sweet glance from this illustrious queen
sky, earth and sea
applaud joyfully,
honeyed brooks furrow
the flowery meadows, and with clearer light
the sun and stars shine forth, and on every shore
Love’s festive voice alone resounds.

Fate will never succeed
in imposing its laws or commands
on such a lovely [marriage] bond. As a second Argus,
I will continue to praise
the inherited merits of both [bride and bridegroom].
Let their desires be satisfied,
let my promise be fulfilled,
So that my deity grows still more in worthiness.

Once the sacred rite of this royal wedding
has been accomplished,
let Fame report it to the whole world.
With her golden trumpet
let her make echoes and plaudits,
Let everyone rejoice with happy sounds and dances.

And you, my Lord, who in the bosom of the Adriatic sea
now cause those worthy nuptials
happily to be celebrated, I will adorn
your noble thought. You, too, will earn
enhanced merit and glory therefrom;
upon my temple this memory
will be indelibly engraved.